Kalamoti, Chios

Kalamoti is a village in Chios, in the Municipality of Mastichochoria. It is the seat of a municipal district and at the 2001 census had 718 inhabitants. The village has a history since the Middle Ages, when it was the administrative center of the area.

General information

Kalamoti is one of the largest villages in Chios, built in the second largest and most fertile plain of the island, in Southeastern Chios. It is one of the 21 mastic villages and its medieval settlement is preserved in good condition. It is 24 km away from the city of Chios (Chora).

There are two interpretations of the name of the village. One wants Kalamoti to owe her name to a type of jewelry that was a complement to the Chian women's clothing. The second and more prevalent one informs us that the village owes its name to the "reeds" (a Byzantine word, from the verb kalamo -o) that is, the reed nets used in the cultivation of silkworms. Testimonies of residents and current indications show that the plain of Kalamoti had, as today, natural reeds and many fig trees. This convinces us that sericulture was systematically flourishing.

The medieval settlement of Kalamoti has its current form at least since the period of the sea empire of Genoa (1346-1566) and came from the union of the scattered small villages located in the fertile valley of SE Chios. The main purpose of the creation of the village was defense, so the village looked like a fortress and was invisible from the sea. Only in this way could the constant looting of the pirates of that time (7th to 14th century) be dealt with.

History

Given the fact that at the foot of the hill of the Prophet Elias Komis, a settlement of the 8th century BC was discovered. One could conclude that the area of ​​the Kalamoti plain that is adjacent, due to its euphoria, would have been cultivated and inhabited for a long time. Exact information about when Kalamoti has existed as a village is not known. However, it is considered almost certain that in the place of today's Kalamoti there was one, perhaps the largest of the scattered villages that were united during the period of the Genoese occupation (1346-1566) in Chios, forming the urban structure of the medieval settlement of Kalamoti. .

During the period from the 7th to the 14th century or Chios experienced an unusual in frequency and frequency of pirate action with the consequence that the villages of today's plain of Kalamoti are an easy target due to the direct access they had through the beach of Komi. This forced the inhabitants of all these villages to settle in a settlement that was invisible to the sea and well fortified. At the same time and for the same reasons, other villages of Chios (Pyrgi, Mesta, Olympia) were formed with a similar composition. This leads to the conclusion that the creation of all these settlements was done under the direction of the Genoese within the administration of Chios by the Maona trading company of the Justinian family, in order to exploit the income (mainly mastic) and trade of the island.

During this period, for the needs of fortification of the settlement, a continuous external wall was created without windows from the external walls of the extreme perimeter houses of the village. In the four corners there were an equal number of circular tower fortresses. There were only two entrances to the village fortress, the upper door to the east and the lower door to the west. As the traveler Buondelmonti (1422) mentions, two large towers dominated the village. Due to the devastating earthquake of 1881, but also to human interventions, only a small part of the South Wall survives today.

As part of these fortifications, two villas were built, one on the hill of the same name east of Komi and one on the hill of the prophet Elias to the west, in order to warn in case pirates saw the villagers to be fortified within its walls. The notification was made by lighting the fire, as the resident of the village who had undertaken these duties was called.

During the Genoese period, according to Philip Argendis, Kalamoti was the seat of Castellanus di Calamoti and the center of one of the twelve regions of the island, which stretched from the area of ​​Agios Georgios Sykousis and Kallimasia to the west of Armolia. and Pyrgios (Asprochochoma) while according to other information, the Milizia Catomerea, the military force that controlled Katomerea, as it was then called in southern Chios, settled in Kalamoti.

In 1566 Chios was occupied by the Turks and Kalamoti passed like all the other mastic villages in the administration of the Turkish prefect, Aga. Due to the production of mastic, the only resin in the world with its valuable properties and various uses, there was a privileged exploitation of Mastichochoria by the High Gate. After the Catastrophe of 1822 and the administrative reform of 1839, Kalamoti was located in the center of Mastichochoria since it was the seat of the homonymous Municipality (Klamoti Nahiye) and had its seat in the Turkish Governor (Mountouris) of Mastichochoria.

In 1912 the liberation of Chios came and a few years later the Primary School of the village began to be built, which operated for the first time in 1922. After the end of the Greek-Italian war and the German occupation there was a widespread need for reconstruction on the modern foundations of science and technology. The next step in the spiritual development of Kalamoti was made in 1950 with the construction of the first wing of the high school. During the decade 1947 - 1957, with the help of great benefactors, important infrastructure projects were carried out in the village, pioneering perhaps for the data of the specific era and the specific place.

Urban planning organization

The main elements of the urban planning organization of old Kalamoti were the closed four-sided shape, the continuous and unbroken defensive wall around the perimeter, the narrow streets that were occasionally covered by transverse arches and arches, the small dimensions of the common areas and the crowded spaces, the absence of trees the continuous stone facades of the houses. Most of these elements are still visible to visitors to the old settlement. The urban planning organization of the village ensured its defense and protection from pirate raids. In the center of the settlement there was a tall tower.

The houses are built of stone and most of them have two floors, with the stable and the auxiliary spaces on the ground floor and the main house with the bedrooms upstairs. Upstairs there was also a semi-outdoor area (xato) that led to the roof (grass). Above the streets there were rooms of houses resting on semi-cylindrical domes, while the roofs of all the houses were almost the same height, so it was easy for the inhabitants to escape in case of danger from house to house.

The urban planning organization of the settlement has a rational character and maintains elements that testify to the existence of planning. In contrast to the other settlements in the urban system of Kalamoti, a clear geometry can be seen by drawing 4 axes that define the main road network. From the upper and lower door, the two main roads that cross the village and end at the square, where the tower was, begin. There is no impasse or winding roads that would confuse residents or visitors. Both the main and the regional roads were paved, while in the middle a ditch was formed to collect the rainwater which led them out of the walls.

Last but not least, the old Kalamoti sewer system with gaps of about 80 cm, which was left between the adjacent houses, forming elongated straight grooves called narrow alleys, which crossed the village and led the sewage out of its walls

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Beaches

South of Kalamoti and at a distance of 3.5 km is Komi, the port of Kalamoti, one of the most popular resorts in Chios. East and immediately after Komi is the beach "The old woman's oven" with a pebble beach. Other notable beaches within walking distance of Kalamoti are:

"Lilikas" to the east and immediately after the beach "Tis grias o bakos" with a pebble beach.
Even further east of "Lilikas" is the beach "To Viri".

Sights

The whole part of the medieval settlement of Kalamoti can be characterized as spectacular. The central building block of the village, "Varvakas" as it is called, as well as the church of Agia Paraskevi, the patron saint of the village, stand out. The other churches of the village are also remarkable, especially Agia Kyriaki and Kato Panagia as well as the more than thirty chapels in the wider area of ​​Kalamoti, the most important of which is the church of Panagia Agrelopousaina.

Panagia Agrelopousaina was built during the 13th or 14th century. Sculptures adorn the exterior of the church, which are the marble frame of the front door and the two relief tiles on the west wall. The interior is adorned with frescoes and a wood-carved gilded iconostasis, a great example of 19th-century folk art.

Heading to the road leading to the remarkable building of the Primary School and near it, to the northeast of the village, one can see the magnificent marble monument to the fallen hero, the work of the famous sculptor and academic Michalis Tombros.

At a distance of 1.50 km north of Kalamoti is the newly built dam of Kalamoti, while further north is Panagia Sikelia, a 12th or 13th century basilica church with a dome that is decorated on the outside with ceramics.

In Komi one can see and visit the villas on the two hills East and west, part of the defensive organization of Kalamoti during the Genoese period.

From the foot of the prophet Elijah in Komi begins the uphill path that leads to the homonymous church at the top of the hill. From there, the magnificent panoramic view rewards the arduous ascent. The spectacle is amazing.

At a distance of 2 km from Komi and on the southwestern slope of the hill of Profitis Ilias is the ancient settlement of Emporio. Settlement founded in the 8th century BC. by the Ionians and was abandoned at the end of the 2nd century BC.

The festivals of the village are on July 26 and 27 in honor of the patron saint of the village of Agia Paraskevi and on July 7 in honor of Agia Kyriaki.

Sources

Damalas Io. Georgios "Kalamoti - A traditional medieval mastic village of Chios" (1989)
Argentis P. Philip, The Occupation of Chios by the Genoese and their Administration of the Island 1346-1566, I, Cambridge 1958, 393, 408, 412, 548, 573 n.
Zolotas Georgios, History of Chios, vol. I. Historical topography, Athens 1921, p. 604.

Municipal unit Mastichochoria
Municipal Community Pyrgi
Venetiko (Βενέτικο, το (νησίς))
Dotia (Δότια, τα)
Emporeios (Εμπορειός, ο)
Karynta (Καρύντα, η)
Moni Agiou Georgiou (Μονή Αγίου Γεωργίου, η)
Pelagonisos (Πελαγόνησος, η (νησίς))
Pyrgi (Πυργίον, το)
Community Armolia
Armolia (Αρμόλια, τα)
Community Vessa
Vessa (Βέσσα, η)
Community Elata
Άγιος Στέφανος, ο (νησίς)
Elata (Ελάτα, η)
Community Kalamoti
Almyros (Αλμυρός, ο)
Kalamoti (Καλαμωτή, η)
Komi (Κώμη, η)
Community Lithi
Lithi (Λιθίον, το)
Limenas Lithiou (Λιμένας Λιθίου, ο)
Community Mesta
Kalogeros (Καλόγερος, ο (νησίς))
Limenas (Λιμένας, ο)
Merikounta (Μερικούντα, η)
Mesta (Μεστά, τα)
Nisaki (Νησάκι, το (νησίς))
Trachylia (Τραχύλια, τα)
Community Olympoi
Olympoi (Ολύμποι, οι)
Community Patrika
Patrika (Πατρικά, τα)

See also: Chios (island)